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It's a long story at this point and I'll try to keep it as short as possible, but I'd like to include as much info/details as I can. Any help anyone can offer is welcome & desperately needed:
My first intro to PE was through the Bathmate, which I started using in 2011. The suction at the base put an uncomfortable amount of pressure around the top of my left testicle. It was not unbearable, so I made the (foolish) decision to ignore it in favor of getting gains. After failing to see any noticeable gains after using it intermittently for about two years, I put it away & started a jelq routine instead. I continued with the jelq routine through 2013, and then in December I got the idea to bring the Bathmate back out & use it in conjunction with the jelqing in hopes of getting more/faster gains. It's hard to remember now, but I think I only used it once or twice more and then shelved it again (don't remember exactly why). But apparently those last two times would be two times too many.
Strangely, it wasn't until February 2014, about two months later, that I began experiencing problems. All of a sudden one morning, I awoke with aches (not quite pain) in the left side of the scrotum. This continued every subsequent morning, during the early morning hours when you drift in and out of sleep before getting up (within about 5 mins of getting out of bed, the aches would quickly dissipate & not return until the same time the next day). In conjunction with the morning aches, I was noticing that both testicles (but most noticeably the left one) were beginning to shrink. Again, hard to remember exactly, but I believe this problem continued daily for about 2 or 3 months. After 3 months, the aching (for the most part), appeared to go way. However, more problems began emerging:
Erections were less firm, not as full, & I began to lose them quicker. While I had never had trouble getting girth gains from jelqing before, now my penis seemed incapable of maintaining them for more than 24 hrs. So jelqing for girth was no longer possible (due to lack of blood flow, I suspect). As a result of this, I soon gave up jelqing. A cycle then began emerging which has continued to this day: 2-3 months of morning aches & testicular shrinkage, followed by about 2-3 months of no/minimal aches & no shrinkage.
I despise American doctors & avoid them as long as possible, but finally in December 2014 I decided I had no other recourse & found one & made an appointment. I explained all of the problems I was experiencing & that I suspected it derived from an injury (though I avoided specifically mentioning the Bathmate - it's not easy divulging that sort of thing to another person). He did a psychical/visual examination, placed a stethoscope around the area to determine blood flow & then told me everything looked perfectly fine, testicles looked normal size (in my estimation they've shrunken by at least 30%) & blood was flowing normally. Essentially (and as most American doctors do when they're unable to diagnose the problem) he implied that it was all in my head (he's massively condescending). Trying to convince him otherwise, I explained to him that during that past winter when the average temperature was 20 degrees, my left testicle - for the very first time in my life - was now small enough to actually retreat from the scrotum entirely. He then started rambling about how that phenomenon was very common in pre-historic man (no I'm not kidding).
To give me "peace of mind," he ordered an ultrasound in January 2015. According to what he later told me, the ultrasound didn't turn up anything and that the testicle measured "within the normal range" (this may be true, but they're still significantly smaller than before Feb. 2014). So there I was, with nowhere left to turn. During that year, the situation only got worse, as the penis began to become more and more affected. Erections got weaker & thinner. And then in December 2015, the situation went from bad to scary.
All of a sudden, my penis began to lose sensitivity. If the penis wasn't constantly stimulated, the erection would instantly begin going down. This problem continued into 2016 and got worse. In July I couldn't wait any longer and made another appointment with my doctor. He did the same brief examination (almost entirely visual), and told me the same thing. This time he ordered a testosterone test (which I was later told turned out normal) and referred me to a urologist.
In November 2016 (after waiting 3 months for an appointment), I saw the urologist. He did (and told me) the same thing: physical/visual examination (“You look fine”), apologized that he couldn’t do anything further for me, and sent me on my way. At no point did he recommend an MRI or any other x-ray/test, and like my regular doctor, he was incredibly condescending & snippy (I have very bad health insurance, and I suspect they see this & treat me accordingly).
So here’s where things currently stand:
I’ve just gone through one of those “shrinkage/ache cycles” (which lasted about 2-3 weeks). My testicles (mainly the left one) keep getting smaller. Most of the feeling in my penis is gone (the base & top side of the shaft are essentially dead), though there is still enough feeling in the underside of the penis (mostly under the tip) and the head to achieve (weak) erections & masturbate to completion. I seem to have hit a dead end with doctors, and I fear that if this continues untreated I’ll eventually be left with a virtually empty scrotum and an impotent penis. As a 24 yr old male, this is not a happy prospect.
There is also something else I’ve been experiencing (infrequently) over the last year: every so often, after I masturbate at night (usually on my back) before falling asleep, I’ll feel the urge to pee, accompanied by a burning sensation. There will be a slight pain when I first push the urine out, and then the burning/peeing sensation will continue for about 20 minutes and then dissipate. I have no explanation for this, other than perhaps some streams are being crossed that shouldn’t be (?). Again, this only ever happens at night.
Does anyone have any ideas/knowledge about exactly what could’ve been damaged in the upper left side of the scrotum (either veins/blood vessels or something in the left testicle) to bring on the symptoms I’ve experienced (especially the shrinkage & loss of sensitivity to the penis)? Would an MRI or some other kind of x-ray/test reveal the damaged areas (exploratory surgery?)? Would there be any way to restore size to the testicles (based on my research, I suspect not)? Unfortunately I have nowhere else to turn for help. If any of my descriptions are unclear, let me know.
My first intro to PE was through the Bathmate, which I started using in 2011. The suction at the base put an uncomfortable amount of pressure around the top of my left testicle. It was not unbearable, so I made the (foolish) decision to ignore it in favor of getting gains. After failing to see any noticeable gains after using it intermittently for about two years, I put it away & started a jelq routine instead. I continued with the jelq routine through 2013, and then in December I got the idea to bring the Bathmate back out & use it in conjunction with the jelqing in hopes of getting more/faster gains. It's hard to remember now, but I think I only used it once or twice more and then shelved it again (don't remember exactly why). But apparently those last two times would be two times too many.
Strangely, it wasn't until February 2014, about two months later, that I began experiencing problems. All of a sudden one morning, I awoke with aches (not quite pain) in the left side of the scrotum. This continued every subsequent morning, during the early morning hours when you drift in and out of sleep before getting up (within about 5 mins of getting out of bed, the aches would quickly dissipate & not return until the same time the next day). In conjunction with the morning aches, I was noticing that both testicles (but most noticeably the left one) were beginning to shrink. Again, hard to remember exactly, but I believe this problem continued daily for about 2 or 3 months. After 3 months, the aching (for the most part), appeared to go way. However, more problems began emerging:
Erections were less firm, not as full, & I began to lose them quicker. While I had never had trouble getting girth gains from jelqing before, now my penis seemed incapable of maintaining them for more than 24 hrs. So jelqing for girth was no longer possible (due to lack of blood flow, I suspect). As a result of this, I soon gave up jelqing. A cycle then began emerging which has continued to this day: 2-3 months of morning aches & testicular shrinkage, followed by about 2-3 months of no/minimal aches & no shrinkage.
I despise American doctors & avoid them as long as possible, but finally in December 2014 I decided I had no other recourse & found one & made an appointment. I explained all of the problems I was experiencing & that I suspected it derived from an injury (though I avoided specifically mentioning the Bathmate - it's not easy divulging that sort of thing to another person). He did a psychical/visual examination, placed a stethoscope around the area to determine blood flow & then told me everything looked perfectly fine, testicles looked normal size (in my estimation they've shrunken by at least 30%) & blood was flowing normally. Essentially (and as most American doctors do when they're unable to diagnose the problem) he implied that it was all in my head (he's massively condescending). Trying to convince him otherwise, I explained to him that during that past winter when the average temperature was 20 degrees, my left testicle - for the very first time in my life - was now small enough to actually retreat from the scrotum entirely. He then started rambling about how that phenomenon was very common in pre-historic man (no I'm not kidding).
To give me "peace of mind," he ordered an ultrasound in January 2015. According to what he later told me, the ultrasound didn't turn up anything and that the testicle measured "within the normal range" (this may be true, but they're still significantly smaller than before Feb. 2014). So there I was, with nowhere left to turn. During that year, the situation only got worse, as the penis began to become more and more affected. Erections got weaker & thinner. And then in December 2015, the situation went from bad to scary.
All of a sudden, my penis began to lose sensitivity. If the penis wasn't constantly stimulated, the erection would instantly begin going down. This problem continued into 2016 and got worse. In July I couldn't wait any longer and made another appointment with my doctor. He did the same brief examination (almost entirely visual), and told me the same thing. This time he ordered a testosterone test (which I was later told turned out normal) and referred me to a urologist.
In November 2016 (after waiting 3 months for an appointment), I saw the urologist. He did (and told me) the same thing: physical/visual examination (“You look fine”), apologized that he couldn’t do anything further for me, and sent me on my way. At no point did he recommend an MRI or any other x-ray/test, and like my regular doctor, he was incredibly condescending & snippy (I have very bad health insurance, and I suspect they see this & treat me accordingly).
So here’s where things currently stand:
I’ve just gone through one of those “shrinkage/ache cycles” (which lasted about 2-3 weeks). My testicles (mainly the left one) keep getting smaller. Most of the feeling in my penis is gone (the base & top side of the shaft are essentially dead), though there is still enough feeling in the underside of the penis (mostly under the tip) and the head to achieve (weak) erections & masturbate to completion. I seem to have hit a dead end with doctors, and I fear that if this continues untreated I’ll eventually be left with a virtually empty scrotum and an impotent penis. As a 24 yr old male, this is not a happy prospect.
There is also something else I’ve been experiencing (infrequently) over the last year: every so often, after I masturbate at night (usually on my back) before falling asleep, I’ll feel the urge to pee, accompanied by a burning sensation. There will be a slight pain when I first push the urine out, and then the burning/peeing sensation will continue for about 20 minutes and then dissipate. I have no explanation for this, other than perhaps some streams are being crossed that shouldn’t be (?). Again, this only ever happens at night.
Does anyone have any ideas/knowledge about exactly what could’ve been damaged in the upper left side of the scrotum (either veins/blood vessels or something in the left testicle) to bring on the symptoms I’ve experienced (especially the shrinkage & loss of sensitivity to the penis)? Would an MRI or some other kind of x-ray/test reveal the damaged areas (exploratory surgery?)? Would there be any way to restore size to the testicles (based on my research, I suspect not)? Unfortunately I have nowhere else to turn for help. If any of my descriptions are unclear, let me know.
and a subjective opinion.
Admin of the Month Mar 2015
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